Prosecutor: Ex Savannah-Chatham police chief Willie Lovett 'a cop on the take'



By Jan Skutch

A federal prosecutor on Monday called the case against former Savannah-Chatham police chief Willie Lovett one of “police corruption …arrogance and … greed.”
“It’s a very simple picture of a cop that was on the take,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Durham told a U.S. District Court jury.
The government contends Lovett and carnival operator Randall Wayne “Red” Roach schemed from 2004 until Sept. 27, 2013, when Lovett abruptly retired, to pay for protection from police while Roach cheated customers through such games as Razzle Dazzle, where players could not win.
“Razzle Dazzle is a scam,” Durham told jurors.
Lovett, 66, is on trial on charges that he protected an ongoing commercial gambling operation from law enforcement over 10 years and made false statements to FBI agents during a subsequent investigation. He remains free on bond.
The case, which is expected to last about five days, resumes today before Judge William T. Moore Jr. and the jury.
Defense attorney Joshua Lowther told the jury Monday that Roach was required to provide security for his traveling carnival and initially used Savannah-Chatham police Sgt. Gregory Capers to find officers to provide that security.
Lovett was one of the officers Capers used, and when Capers left Lovett took his role, Lowther said.
He said payments prosecutors relied upon for their case were simply payments for security purposes and that Lovett did not know that Roach was involved in gambling.
Prosecutors contend that Lovett, first as a police major and later as police chief, would visit Roach every day during such events as St. Patrick’s Day and that Roach would pay him $400 a day.
During one sequence, Lovett visited the operation six times in four days, Durham said.
On the stand Monday, former Savannah-Chatham undercover police officer Jeffery Ryan testified that during St. Patrick’s Day 2004, he found Roach’s operation at Bay Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard when Lovett in full uniform showed up, threw his body across the gaming table and said, ‘No, no they’re closed.”
“We were quite surprised,” Ryan said, describing his reaction was one of “shock and disgust.”
When asked why he had not responded, Ryan said. “Who would I tell and pretty much he was known for, how do I say, retribution.”
Other testimony showed that Roach had a city of Savannah business license for Magin Midway with an address at 501 W. Bay St., which is at MLK Boulevard.
And carnival worker Emerson Healy, who said he worked for Roach for 20 years, said Roach had paid Lovett a “patch” on numerous occasions.
He explained the a patch is paid to a person “who takes care of everything. … Down here it’s usually the police. You don’t have to worry about nothing.”
Healy conceded on that he had a criminal record for robberies and assault and had done prison time.
He became a carnival worker in the later 1980s, he said, explaining he “had some legal problems and had to get out of town.”
Durham told jurors the activity was referred to as “squashing the beef” of police interference and said in the present case it was prompted by Roach’s phone calls to Lovett.
Roach, a 63-year-old carnival worker from Long County who was named in the same indictment, was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison on Sept. 19. He is expected to be a key government witness against Lovett.
Also expected to testify for the government is co-defendant Kenny Amos Blount, 66, of Snellville.
He pleaded guilty Aug. 11 to his role in the scheme and was sentenced to five years probation.
Lovett was police chief from 2010 until he abruptly retired Sept. 27, 2013, after 40 years as a police officer in the face of a sexual harassment complaint filed by a department officer in a move that triggered major shake ups in the department.
A new chief, Joseph “Jack” Lumpkin, took over last week.